Overview
- The Washington Post reports that from 2004 to 2015 the CIA dispersed billions of selectively bred poppy seeds intended to lower opium potency across Afghan farmlands.
- British C-130 aircraft allegedly conducted nighttime drops over Helmand and Nangarhar, the country’s principal poppy-growing provinces.
- The mission was run by the CIA’s Crime and Narcotics Center using expanded post-9/11 counterterrorism funds, according to 14 former U.S. officials.
- Seeds were not genetically engineered but were bred for low alkaloid content with the aim of spreading the trait through cross-pollination.
- Some former participants cited short-term effects, but others said the effort was costly with little durable impact, aligning with a 2018 SIGAR finding of no lasting reduction in poppy cultivation.